Ailene Likes Yo!

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Article from the Bee

http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/10831641p-11749528c.html

Ailene Voisin: Yo ready to push to fore

She played backup to Lisa Leslie in the Athens Games.

By Ailene Voisin -- Bee Sports Columnist
Published 2:15 am PDT Wednesday, September 22, 2004

Yolanda Griffith embraced her role as Lisa Leslie's backup because competing in the 2004 Games - in Athens - was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. But with the gold medal in her grasp and the WNBA playoffs within reach, the Monarchs' one-in-a-million player has undergone a dramatic emotional makeover.

She is obsessed not with bolstering Leslie but with beating Leslie. She wants her first WNBA title. She wants her starting job back.

"Who knows if I had gone on the (pre-Olympic training) tour with the Olympic team?" offered the ultra-competitive Griffith, a late addition to Team USA because she opted to play professionally overseas while the team toured in the spring. "But none of that matters. I was just grateful to have an opportunity to represent my country. And now that I'm back with the Monarchs, my attitude is different. I can't explain it. I think we can win this whole thing, and while this isn't about Lisa and myself, I guess I'm putting the team on my shoulders."

Of the many intriguing facets of the best-of-three, Sparks-Monarchs playoff series that begins Friday and never seems lacking for subplots, now there is also this: Leslie and Griffith, respective superstar centers, resume their postseason duel while arguably playing the best basketball of their careers. During the closing weeks of the season - or the nine games scheduled post-Olympics - the two competed ferociously from afar, as if inspired and rejuvenated, neither physically nor mentally exhausted by the grueling international tournament.

Leslie's dominance enabled the Sparks to overcome the departure of longtime coach Michael Cooper and frontcourt standout DeLisha Milton-Jones (knee), while Griffith's familiar feisty presence anchored the Monarchs' late recovery.

Seriously. Given their seemingly chronic offensive struggles, who didn't expect the Monarchs to fade even further when their bruised and banged up leader returned from Athens?

Yo's is hardly a body-by-Arnie. Her Achilles' heel is her health. With 170 pounds dispersed sparingly over a wiry 6-foot-4 frame, Griffith competes against opponents and injuries. Her feet ache. Her knees swell. Her shoulders and elbows bear permanent scars from all those high dives for loose balls.

Yet while her wounds have hampered her performances during portions of these past two seasons - and at 34, who isn't slowed by bruises? - her contributions post-Olympics have been reminiscent of a fit, younger player, the one who sprinted downcourt, swatted shots around the basket, turned into the lane for short jumpers and half-hooks. Who snarled and repeatedly snatched rebounds out of opponents' grasp. Who earned the MVP award in 1999. Who dominated offensively and defensively, as she did during the final nine games (6-3), including the three straight victories that secured the postseason berth.

"This is what everybody told me about Yo before I got here," said coach John Whisenant, who joined the Monarchs as general manager before the 2003 season. "Cooper told me she was the best power forward in the history of the league. That's what Jerry (Reynolds) told me. Then there were times last year people were questioning, saying, well, she's getting old. She doesn't have it anymore.'

"Well, she's disproving all of that. This is the best I've ever seen her play, and we'll need that to beat the Sparks. Lisa has got three inches on Yo. She has those long arms. But Yo finds ways to beat you in a blue-collar way, and she has had good games against Lisa."

Leslie, who in contrast to Griffith rarely erupts with overt displays of raw emotion or overpowering athletic superiority, dominates with lethal detachment and a deceptively affable grace. At 6-foot-5 and 170 pounds, she runs on tip-toes, as if barefoot and striding to avoid landing on red-hot coals, yet never seems to get outpaced. Her passes are precise, timely, fundamental. Her defense is stealthily imposing. Her jump shot is feathery, and on occasion, banked in from the sides.

"I think Lisa, by far, is the best player in the world," Dawn Staley praised during the Olympics. "Until she retires, she will hold that title because she can do so much with the basketball."

But it's Leslie's post play - the sheer abundance of moves - that defines her uniqueness. Step-throughs, jump-hooks, left hand, right hand, turnaround jumpers, reverse pivots, up-and-unders. Indeed, there is little she can't do or hasn't done.

Griffith knows this better than almost anyone. The two were starters on the 2000 Olympics team before becoming teammates in 2004, and fierce, if friendly rivals now for six WNBA seasons.

Yet Yo firmly believes the outcome this series will be different than the others, with the Monarchs prevailing, the Monarchs advancing, the Monarchs dancing in the center circle. And while the Sparks are favored, the Monarchs can surely be heartened by this: Yo, a backup no longer, historically backs up what she says.

This should be quite a series.